


Queen of my Heart

by HedaKomPakstoka



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Emma's many powers, Established Relationship, F/F, Meeting the Parents, Minor Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Sort Of, True Love, ripping hearts out, swanqueen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-19 14:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18136679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HedaKomPakstoka/pseuds/HedaKomPakstoka
Summary: *Written before the Underworld and Hook Arc*When watching the earlier seasons of OUAT I stumbled upon a question that wasn’t answered. Cora wasn’t able to rip Emma’s heart out because of love. This always seems the reasonable go-to explanation for everything in OUAT. And that’s totally fine because love is the most powerful magic of all and such. But is NOBODY able to ‘rip’ Emma’s heart out? Just because she’s the savior or the manifestation of true love? Does that power of Emma’s only come up in dangerous situation or can nobody ever take her heart out, not even if it’s for a ‘good’ reason?So this is what I’ve come up with to answer my question and it’s obviously in a SQ setting. These women are clearly made for each other so here it is, my re-write of episode 2x09 ‘Queen of Hearts’.





	Queen of my Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2014 and ignored the whole "Emma and Regina need a beard" Drama when the show kinda went downhill for me. So this was written before the Underworld Arc and I think Emma splitting her heart in two to save Hook? I haven't actually seen the newer seasons but I guess my theory is still canon-compliant mostly!?

Emma knew she had to save her mother from this lunatic. Now she understood why Regina never talked about her own mother, she was bat-shit crazy. So she pushed her mother out of the way just to end up with a hand wrapped around her heart.

“Oh, you foolish girl. Don’t you know? Love is weakness!”

Emma realized this woman knew nothing about the real world or her own daughter. She felt a tug on her heart and expected the worst. Her vision got blurry, but she could surprisingly still feel her heart in her chest. Cora seemed just as surprised as Emma.

With newfound determination, Emma announced, “No, it’s strength.”

Then Cora was thrown back and lost consciousness. She didn’t know what to do with her newest powers, so she just took her mother’s hand and together they jumped into the portal. Her last thought being of Regina and finally holding her and their son in her arms again.

* * *

Regina ran towards the well, pulling Henry along. She knew what Gold had done as she saw him standing by the well looking at the green lights swirling around inside of it.

“How could you?” She screamed at him as she tried to hold Henry back from the well.

Gold looked unfazed and answered evenly “You know we can’t let your mother come to Storybrooke. You would have done the same, dearie, if it weren’t for your new found plaything, Miss Swan.”

Regina glared at the man. He couldn’t know, could he? They had kept their relationship a secret for just that reason so no one could use it against one of them. But no, Gold must just be alluding to her colluding with Emma and her idiot parents.

It was Henry who brought her back to the present. “Mom, you have to save them.”

She pulled him away from the well and bent down to look him in the eyes.

“Don’t worry, Henry, I will. Even if it’s the last thing I do.”

He understood to stay put as she made her way to the well. She looked at the dark magic swirling around it and spread her arms over it.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, dearie. It’ll surely kill you.”

Regina didn’t care about what the old man had to say. She had to at least try to save Emma and her idiot mother. For Henry. For Emma. For redemption. So she willed the magic to flow out of the well and into her body. Instantly she felt it tugging at her heart, willing to enter and destroy it from the inside. Regina only hoped she would have sucked it all in before it finally destroyed her. She thought about how she deserved to die like this, as a consequence of all her wrongdoings.

But Regina’s motivation was strong. She only had one motive for her action: _Love_.

Her love for Emma and her son. Regina readied herself for her certain death, thinking of the two most important people in her life.

But her heart never exploded as the bottom of the well came into sight. She had succeeded without being destroyed by the dark magic. She fell back and almost threw up. But her focus was on Henry again as he moved towards the now open well.

“No!” he screamed as no one came out. Regina was heartbroken seeing her son like this.

“I’m sorry, Henry. I’m so sorry!” She had tried and succeeded to dismantle the trap, but she must have been too late. Regina could never forgive herself now. But that was just what she deserved. She did the right thing for once and even survived its dangers but was still faced with the loss of her true love and a consequently devastated and heartbroken son.

Regina looked away. She wasn’t strong enough to help her son cope, she didn’t even know how to deal with the situation herself. Luckily, she didn’t have to find out because again Henry was hurling her out of her thoughts.

“Mom?” His question seemed to not be aimed at her, but she still turned around, just in time to witness a certain blonde climbing out of the well. Regina saw her looking around and her eyes finding Henry.

“Henry?” Regina didn’t think she could love Emma more but the way her eyes lit up as she saw Henry proved her wrong.

There was now a group hug going on between Henry, Emma, and Snow, who had climbed out of the well behind Emma. _Of course, the idiot made it home. ‘I will always find you!’_ Regina heard the words in her head in a mocked version of Snow’s voice. As she looked at the group, the two people she loved the most and the one she once despised the most, she was actually jealous of their happiness.

Gold moved out of Regina’s sight and began to walk away from them as she heard the idiot ask, “What’s going on?” It clearly was directed at her because Snow was surely surprised to see her there.

And now it was Henry’s turn to proudly claim “She saved you. She saved both of you.”

Snow looked at her with a kind of sorrow in her eyes. Like she was sad it had taken Regina so long to find her true ‘good’ self. But Emma just smiled and looked as proud as Henry seemed to be.

“Thank you.” Those two words from Emma seemed to convey much more than just gratitude.

“You’re welcome.” All Regina wanted to do right now was reaching out for Emma and to hug her close and kiss her until they were both out of breath. But sadly she couldn’t. It wasn’t Emma’s fault though. It had been Regina who had asked to keep their relationship to themselves for now. Although Snow never seemed to condemn the former Evil Queen for her actions, their alliance was still strained. Regina was sure it wouldn’t help her case if the over-protective mother knew of her daughter’s bed companion.

Still, Regina was looking forward to rubbing it under her ‘former’ nemesis’s nose. How she conquered her daughter’s heart with only her dashing smile and a scantily buttoned blouse.

Then Snow said something about needing to see her idiot husband. Regina didn’t even look her way as she ran away with Ruby in tow. She only had eyes for Emma who held onto their son like he would float away if she didn’t.

“So… your mom, she’s… she’s a piece of work, you know?” _Emma really knew how to talk eloquently_ , Regina mused.

“Indeed I do.”

Emma couldn’t even begin to fathom the situations Regina must have endured under her mother’s wrath. All she wanted to do right now was to kiss her. Tell her how everything would be alright because she was not under her mother’s control anymore.

Regina slowly leaned in, planning to kiss her girlfriend, then quickly stopped herself as she remembered who was now almost squished between them.

“Welcome home,” she said instead.

“Thanks,” Emma said, having recognized her girlfriend leaning in. “So, you coming to Granny’s with us? I think this calls for a victory burger.”

Regina almost said yes, before schooling her smiley-faced features into a more neutral expression.

“Thank you for the invite, but I’m afraid I have some matters that demand my attention. I will see you later, though, when you escort our young prince back to his fortress, I presume?”

Regina sometimes caught herself thinking of Henry as a real prince. Well, technically, he was a real prince, but he was living in a world where royalty was treated very differently from what she was used to. Though he could one day become a great leader to this town, she was sure of it.

“Definitely,” she heard Emma exclaim and she smiled again, nodding at them before swooshing up a purple cloud and vanishing in front of their eyes.

“I guess it’s just you and me, kid.”

* * *

Emma rang the bell excessively before standing back and resting her hands on her son’s shoulders. She got a little too excited when she could hear the sounds of heels sauntering towards the door.

“Of course, it’s you. Miss Swan, you might be the tallest five-year-old I have ever seen.”

The mayor instantly knew it wasn’t Henry who had rung the bell. Her son would never act as childishly as Emma sometimes did. She smirked a little at that thought. With Emma in her house, she sometimes thought she had two kids under her roof.

No response came from Emma. Instead, she was faced with a broad smile, almost splitting the blonde’s face in half. Henry noticed it too as he looked up to question her mom’s steady hold on him.

“Mom, why are you smiling so weirdly?”

Emma was immediately brought out of her dreamy haze, Regina being the main protagonist in those dreams.

“Uhm, just happy to bring you home safely so your mom doesn’t chop my head off.”

“I prefer ripping out hearts. Chopping off heads is actually my mother’s specialty.” Regina chuckled. The sheriff always got so flustered around her and she greatly enjoyed the blonde’s discomfort in some of the situations.

“Mom, you can let go now. I’m home safe.” Henry brought both of their attention back to him. Emma pulled her hands off of Henry’s shoulders and let them sink into her pockets.

Henry snaked around his brunette mother and sprinted up the stairs, calling a short Goodnight before the two women heard his bedroom door slam shut.

“Emma.” The woman in question let her gaze wander from the top of the stairs to the person standing in front of her.

“Hey.”

“Hey? Don’t let me stop your usual eloquent speeches, Miss Swan.” Regina smirked. Flustered, just like that.

Emma opened her mouth as if to say something but quickly shut it again, lost for words.

“Could I interest you in a drink, Miss Swan?”

Emma only nodded and followed Regina inside the house and into her office. As Regina was reaching for an expensive looking bottle inside her liquor cabinet, she felt two soft hands slowly sneaking around her waist. She pulled her hand away from the bottles as she felt Emma’s lips ghosting over her neck. For a second, she reveled in the much-missed touch of her girlfriend, not thinking of anything but the sensation of lips nibbling her ear.

Then she heard herself disclose her biggest fear. “I thought I would never see you again.”

The caresses on her neck stopped. A small kiss was placed right on the nape of her neck. For a second, Regina thought she felt a tear flowing down her neck. But Emma’s voice was not teary as she spoke, instead, it was strong and steady.

“I’m here. All thanks to you.”

Regina turned around in their embrace to look into her lover’s eyes. She hadn’t been as hopeful as Henry, but she had learned not to doubt her son. His nearly blind faith was a consequence of him having Charming blood, Regina was sure of it.

“How did you make your way back to me?” Regina questioned, being close to tears. “I thought my mother would surely prevent you from returning home to me, especially if she somehow found out about our connection.”

Emma had to laugh a little. She could imagine her own mother’s perplexity if she finally found out about her daughter’s relationship with her arch nemesis. But Cora’s wrath was almost unimaginable to Emma. She would probably kill her and lock Regina in a cell until she found a rich widowed king to marry her off to. Wait, that already happened. Emma began to dread any future encounters with the Queen of Hearts.

“Well, good thing she didn’t find out then. Though she did want to take my mother’s heart and serve it as your lunch.”

The image alone would have made Regina’s Evil Queen Persona maniacally laugh. Present-Regina opted for sarcastic distaste tough.

“Ugh, luckily she didn’t succeed.” Emma was surprised by Regina’s words. “True love makes a heart taste awfully bitter.” That statement paired with the typical Regina smirk made Emma laugh wholeheartedly.

Emma let her hands wander up Regina’s back and awkwardly held onto her shoulders to tug them closer together. Regina gasped silently when she felt Emma’s breast press against her own.

“I do have a question for you, though.” Emma leaned in to softly kiss the brunette’s cheek. “Since I managed to push my mother out of Cora’s reach just in time, you know, savior and all, it would have been my heart on your platter. Still, think the love in it would’ve made it taste bitter?”

Emma felt herself being pushed away as Regina stared at her while holding her at arm’s length.

“Why, in Lucifer’s name, did you do that, Emma? She could have killed you.” Regina sounded exasperated and Emma detected a hint of fear in her girlfriend’s voice.

“Whoa, no reason to swear, your Majesty. Though I am not completely sure that was a curse. Lucifer? Really?” she chuckled.

“I am evil, and I am a witch, so yes, Lucifer, the inspirational leader of all us night-folk.” Regina had to chuckle a bit herself. “Now, tell me exactly how you ended up here when your heart was in my mother’s grasp!”

“Love.”

“Excuse me?” Regina was confused. Emma sounded like the two idiots.

Emma tried to avoid Regina’s intense gaze but ended up looking at what she had christened the ‘Evil Cleavage’. In order not lose her line of thought she moved her gaze upward just to get lost in Regina’s eyes.

“Well, I’m not exactly sure how I did it, but love was definitely the key to it, I think. Your mother was like ‘Love is weakness!’ and tried to rip my heart out but she somehow couldn’t do it. Then I said ‘No, it’s strength!’ and suddenly she was swooshed away from me, just like that.”

“Just like that?” Emma nodded. She knew how crazy it sounded but it did happen precisely as she had just described to a skeptical looking Regina.

“I guess, I should be glad you’re the spawn of two idiots who really love each other so that you have magic to protect yourself with.”

They were silent for a while. Both thinking about the situation in different ways. Finally, Emma voiced the question that had also floated around in the brunette’s mind.

“Do you think it was just a one-time thing to protect myself or is my heart actually unrip-outable?”

Regina snickered at the blonde’s neologism. Leave it to Emma to always find the most eloquent ways to voice her thoughts.

“I am not sure, dear. I am not sufficiently accustomed to your kind of magic.”

Regina saw a glint of the adventurous side of the blonde in her eyes. She instantly didn’t like where she thought this was going.

“Only one way to find out.” Regina very much didn’t like where this was going. “Can you try?”

She couldn’t evade the puppy dog eyes for long.

“Try what? Ripping your heart out? Why, in Merlin’s name, would I do that?”

“Oh, so it’s Merlin now?”

“Shut up!”

Emma smiled. “You know, just to look at it. See if it’s pretty or something…”

Regina stayed silent for a while, thinking of the consequences that came with ripping someone’s heart out. One wrong move and the precious heart could crumble to dust in her very hands. On the other hand, Regina was already convinced that Emma’s heart was beautiful. The most beautiful heart there was. She came to a decision after very little deliberation. She had deprived Emma of a loving childhood, so it was a chance to redeem herself by showing her love. True love, like she hoped.

“Did you know you can actually detect if a person is in love when examining their heart?”

Emma’s eyes lit up. She was sure of her love to Regina but if there was a way to really prove to the brunette that she could be loved, Emma might just make her a little happier.

The blonde tipped up Regina’s chin to look in her eyes as she had lowered her gaze to avoid Emma’s. When Regina saw the pleading in her lover’s eyes, she knew there was no way out for her.

Without missing another beat Regina swiftly reached out and pierced Emma’s chest to wrap her fingers around the fiercely beating heart. She slowly pulled it out of the blonde’s body to look at it. She held it in her hands like it was the most delicate and precious object she had ever got to examine and it was just that.

“It truly is beautiful.” The words had slipped out without permission from Regina’s brain. It only took a few seconds for Emma to recover from the intrusion and her eyes were glued to Regina’s face that reflected nothing but admiration.

Then her heart was raised to the left side of her head and she could literally hear it beating in her ear. After a few seconds, she noticed it. Another faint beating noise being emitted by her heart, like an echo or a background noise.

“Is that…” But before Emma could finish her question, she saw Regina reach into her own chest and pull her own heart out. Emma reached out to take it from Regina who delicately placed it in her lover’s hands. She had never willingly given her heart to anybody and she would never grant anyone else besides Emma that privilege.

Her gaze stuck to Emma’s eyes as they admired the beating heart in her hands. A black spot inside it could be detected but to Regina’s bewilderment is had nearly shrunken to a point of being barely recognizable. There had been a time when her heart had been blackened to the core. The only reason for a heart to turn light again was love, how shockingly original.

Now Emma held Regina’s heart to her right ear to listen to both hearts beating. The faint beat she detected in her own heart was now resonating in Regina’s heart, accounting for the louder beat in it. Regina’s heart was also occupied by a second, more faint heartbeat, beating in sync with Emma’s heartbeat.

Was that it? The proof of true love? If so, it was beautiful, their hearts beating in sync, beating as one.

“I do want my heart back now.” Emma could only barely hear Regina’s demand over the loud beating of their hearts.

“And why is that?” She didn’t want to stop listening to the beautiful sounds of two hearts beating as one.

“Because I want to feel the small jolt it makes when I finally kiss you.” Regina had wanted to kiss Emma since the second she climbed out of that well but had surprisingly held herself back until now.

Emma seemed to be excited herself as she sloppily pushed a heart back into Regina’s chest before inserting the other one into her own body. Before she had even let go of the heart inside her chest her head was pulled up so that her lips met Regina’s in a hasty but chaste kiss. She felt her heart skip a beat, but something didn’t feel right about it. No, it was more like something finally felt as right as it never had before.

When a tongue skimmed her lower lip Emma immediately opened her mouth to welcome the inquisitive tongue home. Home. That’s what she felt when kissing Regina. The woman who had figuratively ripped her out of her parents’ grasp, had finally given the orphan a home. She hungrily kissed the brunette, letting her tongue duel with Regina’s only to push her back to suck air into her deprived lungs.

After a few much-needed breaths Emma’s head finally cleared. She could now pinpoint her feeling from earlier. It was like she was experiencing what she felt from another’s perspective, who felt exactly like she did but different.

Regina pressed her forehead to Emma’s and took a deep breath. With her hands rounding the blonde’s waist and pulling their hips together, she whispered “You nearly killed us, are you aware of that? Switching someone’s heart usually kills them on the spot. Unless it’s the heart of one’s true love. Their hearts beat as one and it actually makes them feel more alive than they ever have.”

Then Emma felt a prodding hand enter her chest and pull at the heart beating inside it. Then her own heart was pressed into her chest, in its rightful place again.

“How come you know so much about love and hearts, your Evilness?”

“I wanted to make sure I knew of every sensation there was to share with you once I finally conquered your heart.”

“And it shall be yours forever. You’re the queen of my heart, Regina.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very sorry that this is so super sweet but that's just what Swanqueen does to me.  
> Swanqueen is still the perfect fairytale relationship and it's a shame that ABC doesn't get it.  
> There is another chapter for this but I still need to re-read/re-write it almost 5 years later which should be fun.


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